Make your thesis meaningful

You will likely invest hundreds of hours and huge effort in your final thesis.
What about
using this opportunity for something more than just “have it done”?
We can help you have
high social impact with your thesis, improve your career prospects or prepare for research
career in academia.

5 projects

...have been already dispatched.

1500 hours

...have been spent on the projects.

10 organizations

...have submitted their topics.

What they say about us...

Too many students write theses that achieve nothing other than meet the requirement for the degree they are seeking. When there are so many important questions, in a wide range of fields, that need to be answered, that's a terrible waste of time and intelligent, creative energy. The Effective Thesis Project is seeking to change that, and I hope it will.

Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne

The Effective Thesis project is a great way to make high-impact research areas more visible to university students...This would have an outsized social impact - especially because the Effective Thesis project has carefully selected its suggested topics based on cutting-edge research from the emerging field of global priorities research.

Max Daniel, executive director of the Foundational research institute

The Effective Thesis project aims to focus research on areas that have the potential to greatly improve the world. A lot of skilled and talented people at universities find themselves in a situation where they have to write a large final thesis (bachelor, diploma, Ph.D.) at least once during their studies. Many of them find it difficult to choose a topic and end up giving much time and effort into a paper that only serves as a means to get their degree, with almost no subsequent applications. But when there is so much energy invested in the thesis, why not choose a topic that will, on the top of gaining you a diploma, benefit and help someone else?

We have collected a list of topics from socially beneficial organizations related to the Effective Altruism community, which deal with some of the most pressing global issues. To ensure highest possible quality and utility of students’ work, we have agreed with organizations to provide consultations to students. That way students can draw from another source of information and be sure that if they write a high-quality thesis, their work and effort will be made use of to make the world a better place.

Process

After you choose your topic, click the "I want this topic" button and send us your information.

We then ask you to write a research proposal describing how you would like to work on the topic. That should help you to start thinking about the topic more deeply and establish a plan to approach the topic. Based on this proposal we can also provide feedback in the early stages of working on the topic. If there are multiple candidates for one topic, it would also help us to choose which candidate to connect with the organization who created the topic. The proposal may involve a description of methodological approach as well as any specific ideas student already has about the topic. The more precise the description and argumentation, the better. It shouldn’t be longer than two A4 pages.

After that, we connect you with the organization, send them your details and your proposal. You arrange regular consultations with them to ensure that your work is going in the right direction and to help you with some theoretical (and maybe even practical) uncertainties.

At this point you should also start looking for a teacher at your course who will be your supervisor. It always helps if the mentor has deep understanding of the relevant topic, thus would provide insightful guidance.

Thereafter, it's all up to you. We won't interfere in your communication with the organization, but if you need any help, we'll try to do our best. After you defend your thesis, we'll send you a few questions exploring your experience with this project and connection with the organization. With your permission, we'll also publish your thesis on our websites.

The Effective Thesis project is run by volunteers in their free time ouside of work and studies, but as we are gaining tractions with more organizations and students involved, the project demands more time and even professional services (e.g. online marketing tools to address students) to be well maintained. Help us to improve this project, help more students to make use of their time and effort and more organizations to do even more good.